2/25/2014 Workout…Leg Day!! major weights

Today’s Leg Day is, once again, brought to us by Jamie Eason. I’m on day 44 of her LiveFit Trainer. I’m doing it right this time, with the eating right and everything. My hubby is doing it with me and we did take before pics and will take during and after pics, too, just so y’all can see IT WORKS. My back is sore from today…I think I just came up wrong out of a squat. Be careful!!! Watch your form!! If you can’t lift it right, its probably too heavy for you…..yes, I’m talking to you Mr. Grunty McArch-your-back. I promise, you’ll still get your workout in if you drop 5-10 pounds. Keep your form!!!

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  Narrow Stance Squats, 2 light sets of 15 reps and 2 heavier sets to failure

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  Narrow Stance Leg Press, 4 sets of 8 reps

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  Barbell Step Ups, 4 sets of 8 reps

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  Walking Barbell ‘Double’ Lunges (step- down-up-down), 3 sets of 20 reps

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  Single Leg Barbell Squat (foot on bench), 4 sets of 8 reps

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  Seated Calf Raise, 3 sets of 20 reps, last set to failure

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  Standing Calf Raises, 3 sets of 20 reps, last set to failure

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  Leg Extensions, 3 sets of 10 reps, last set to failure

We all have a love/hate relationship with Leg Day, but this is an awesome one. Just grit your teeth and get through it. Your sexy legs will thank you!

Stay sweaty, my friends!

1/27/14 Workout…legs

Want a fantastic leg workout? Here you go! Its a little focused on the hamstrings, but I feel like I can never work those suckers enough! Remember to stretch really well afterward, or you’ll be really hurting tomorrow. I was hurting when I walked out of the gym, even with stretching! (Again, workout is from Jamie Eason Livefit trainer)

LEGS

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  Leg Extensions, 3 sets of 10 reps

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  Wide Stance Barbell Squat, 3 sets of 10 reps

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  Walking Barbell Lunge, 3 sets of 10 reps

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  Single-Leg Barbell Deadlift (shown with kettlebell), 3 sets of 10 reps

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  Lying Leg Curls, 3 sets of 10 reps

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  Seated Calf Raise, 3 sets of 10 reps

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  Standing Calf Raises, 3 sets of 10 reps

Stay sweaty, my friends!

1/21/14 Workout…back and biceps

This is a great workout from Jamie Eason’s LiveFit Trainer for your back and biceps. My biceps are already screaming at me, and I just finished 30 minutes ago. In fact, they were already sore when I walked out of the gym. I’m starting the LiveFit Trainer over again, so this is in the first phase, where she focuses on muscle endurance.

• Lat Pull Down   3×12  (I did 50 lbs)
• One armed dumbbell row 3×12  (I used a 15 lb db)
• Seated cable row 3×12  (I did 50 lbs)
• Underhand cable pull-down  3×12 (I did 40 lbs, then on the last set, did 50)
• Alternating dumbbell curls 3×12/arm (I did 12 lbs)
• One arm db preacher curl 3×12/arm (I did 10 lbs….this one is hard)
• Standing biceps cable curl 3×12 (I did 30 lbs)

Have fun! If you’re a beginner, don’t go as heavy as possible, you’ll be way too sore. If you’re not a beginner, LIFT HEAVY.

Stay sweaty, my friends!

9/9/13 Workout…LEGS

Today is Baby Boy’s 4 month bday! Four months and I am one pound away from being my “pre-baby” weight. Woohoo. I am still seven pounds away from being my “pre-hubby-comes-home-from-Afghanistan” weight, but it’ll get there. For the last two weeks, I’ve been doing Jamie Eason’s Live Fit Trainer. If you’ve never heard of this, you need to check it out. Its for gals and guys. Head over to bodybuilding.com and you’ll find it. She tells you what exercises to do, what days to rest, what to eat, the whole nine yards. I haven’t been following the eating plan to a “t,” but I’m getting as close as I can. I still need extra calories because I’m still nursing Baby Boy.  Today was leg day and I literally can barely walk up my stairs. LOVE IT. Here is a glimpse at what I did:

• Leg extension machine, 3×10, 60 lbs
• Wide stance squat, 3×10, 95 lbs
• Barbell walking lunges, 3×10, 40 lb barbell
• One legged barbell deadlift, 3×10, 30 lbs
• Leg curl machine, 3×10,  40 lbs
• Standing calf raises, 3×10, 40 lb barbell

I was lucky that I could walk out of the gym. I almost had to have someone help me carry Baby Boy’s carrier to my car. If you’re curious about this program, I’ll explain more tomorrow in Training Tuesday, or you can just check it out for yourself. I love it because it is all about building muscle, and you control your own weights, so if you don’t want to lift heavy (which I don’t know why you wouldn’t), you don’t have to. Remember ladies, you will not get bulky if you lift heavy. In order to look like a body builder, you have to train and eat like a body builder. Do not let this fear keep you from the sexy, lean muscles that you can have!!! 

Stay sweaty, my friends!

8/17/13 Workout…quick arms

Busy, busy, busy. That’s all I can say about why I haven’t blogged a lot lately. I promise, I have been working out. I’ve mostly been doing a boot camp on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with a home workout thrown in every now and then. I really need to join a gym so I can get my lifting back to where it was. The closest gym to me is a big name and they don’t let babies in until they are 6 months old. What? Baby Boy just sits there, how hard could it be to watch him for an hour? Grrr. Anyway. 

Today’s workout was a quick one. Its part of a week-long arm challenge from Skinny Ms. Fitness.  Here is the link to the challenge. 

These are Monday’s exercises:  Do the circuit 3 times, rest 20 sec between exercises and 1 minute between sets. 

• tricep push-ups, 12
• bicep curls, 12 (I used 15 lb dumbbells)
• tricep kick-backs, 12 (I used 10 lb dumbbells)

I did 5 minutes of jump rope before the strength training. 

Quick, super easy, but challenging if you up your weight. Perfect workout if you don’t have a lot of time. 

Stay sweaty, my friends!

7/31/2013 Workout…jump rope w/ full body strength

I had a busy day yesterday, so I wasn’t able to post my workout. I finally got annoyed at myself for slacking on the workouts and the eating right. So yesterday was the day I changed it. I ate pretty healthy (although, I was at a loss for what to eat at dinner since Hubby didn’t come home and I didn’t have anything to cook…ate oatmeal with blueberries and then some Greek yogurt).  This workout is great for beginners and if you’re more advanced, you can always add more weight/more sets/more reps, however you need to modify it.  Its fairly quick and hits all the major muscle groups.

• Warm-up (don’t forget to do this…move around your house, walk on the treadmill, do some squats, just move!)
• 1 min jump rope
• Squat with a shoulder press, 12 reps x 3 sets
• 1 min jump rope
• Lunge with a bicep curl, 12×3
• 1 min jump rope
• Dead lift with upright row, 12×3
• 1 min jump rope
• Tricep dips, 12×3
• 1 min jump rope
• push-ups, 12×3

It doesn’t seem like a lot, but my tooshie is screaming at me this morning! Remember to go as low as you can on your squats, and keep your back straight, shoulders back, and neck neutral during all exercises. 

Stay sweaty, my friends!

7/19/13 Workout…run plus fat burner

I ran again! Woohoo. This time, I took my friend Alexandra’s advice and ran in spandex rather than shorts, and I am happy to say I didn’t feel my thighs rub together. They may still have been, but the point is I didn’t have to feel them, and I didn’t have to do the tug on the hem of my shorts routine every 10 seconds. The run was good, although the air is so thick here, you can cut it with a knife. I made it farther before I had to walk, so that’s progress! Yay!

The rest of my workout is brought to you by FitMiss.

 

I had to cut some reps down to 10, but this is an awesome workout. Its a bit long, so make sure you have some time. Its also a good one that you can do at home. (I did).

I’m one tired mama.

Stay sweaty, my friends!

7/3/13 Workout…resistance band arms

I’m getting into a pretty good workout schedule. Little Man goes to preschool three days a week, so I take whatever time Baby Boy gives to me during those days to work out. Today, Baby Boy fell asleep on the way home from walking big brother to school, so I had plenty of time to do a good arm workout. One thing I wanted to mention…if you are nursing and wanting to work out, the one thing you need to remember is drink LOTS of water. Your supply shouldn’t suffer, and your milk (contrary to popular belief) will not taste sour. Just drink lots of water and wipe off before you feed your kiddo…your skin might be salty from sweating.

Here’s today’s workout (again, brought to you by FitMiss). You’ll be working your shoulders, biceps, and triceps. You need a jump rope and a resistance  band:

• warm-up: 5 minute jump rope
• Lateral raises 4×20 (that’s 4 sets of 20)
• Jump rope 1 min
• Bicep curls 4×20
• Jump rope 1 min
• Front raises 4×15 (slow)
• Jump rope 1 min
• Single arm tricep kickbacks 4×12/arm
• Jump rope 1 min
• Single arm overhead tricep extensions 4×12

Not too bad. My arms are burning right now.  The most surprising part of this workout was that I discovered I can still jump rope for a minute!! I had to do a little happy dance. I was sure that my stamina would have suffered. So, go me. And go you! You can do this! If one minute is a bit too long, break it up into two 30 sec increments. If this is too easy for you, jump rope for a minute in between each set. That would be a lot of jump roping. 🙂

Check out my awesome new workout shirt! Its from Fit Like Flint and says, “Its not about me. 1 Cor. 10:31.”  1Cor 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”  I love the message and the shirt because its flowy and hides my baby pouch that is hanging around.

 

Stay sweaty, my friends!

6/28/13 Workout…bootylicious

I got my workout from FitMiss today. My booty was sore the minute I stepped away.  The workout calls for 10 rounds, but I thought 5 would be enough for me, just starting back. As I got into it, I thought I would be lucky to get through 3. Baby Boy had different plans. He woke up after I had done two rounds, ate a snack, then passed back out. I got my three rounds in, but it was with a break.  Here’s what’s got my booty on fire today:

45 sec on (of each exercise), 30 sec rest, 3 rounds (or 10, or 5, or 1…no judgement here)

• burpees
• squats with a overhead press (use a dumbbell or kettlebell..I used a 10 lbs kettlebell)
• alternating lunges (add weight for more)
• squat with a side kick
• front raises and lateral raises (use dumbbells or a resistance band…I used a resistance band)

Seems easy, and the first round was. Then my legs remembered they were supposed to be out of shape. Bring on the sore, I’m ready!!

Ready to go!

My writing partner.

 

Stay sweaty, my friends!

6/26/13 Workout

I worked out today!! First time in….well, it feels like forever. It felt awesome to feel the burn again. Here’s the upper body workout I did:

• 3 sets of 30 sec jump rope
• 10 push-ups
• 15 high rows with resistance band
• 15 reverse flys, 8 lbs
• 15 bicep curls with resistance band
• 15 hammer curls, 10lbs
• 10 push-ups
• 15 lateral shoulder raises with resistance band
• 15 shoulder presses, 10 lbs
• 15 tricep dips
• 15 tricep extensions, 10 lbs
• 10 push-ups

It wasn’t the most intensive workout I’ve ever done, but it felt super good to lift something besides a baby. The jump rope was fairly easy, but I could feel my incision area from the c section pulling. Its not hurting now, so its ok to continue with the jump rope. I feel that I can up the intensity in my next workout. I was able to lift the 8 and 10 lbs fairly easily, so I guess my body remembers what I was doing beforehand. I had to listen to my doctor for a minute and take it slow, but y’all know me. I can’t take it slow forever. Now to find a gym in the area that has child care and we are golden! Yay for sweating again!

Stay sweaty, my friends!